The Wheel of a Balanced Life of Resilience

Different men seek after happiness in different ways and by different means, and so make for themselves different modes of life.
Aristotle

Resilience is promoted through balance. People with a high level of resilience usually have activities in the different areas of life integrated into their routine so that they create a balance in life.
It is crucial to focus on all areas of life and not to overload one or two areas with activities, as experience shows that this leads to more stress instead of less. While it may seem counterproductive for many to consciously turn to other areas of life when stressed in one area of life instead of fully concentrating on the stressful area, this type of “procrastination” is extremely valuable. When different areas of life are highly stressed, it leads to more creativity and better solutions and decisions, as well as a higher level of health, so that the productivity of these “versatile” people increases and they are more successful in their jobs. Moreover, especially in highly competitive or even toxic environments characterized by entitlement and status, it helps us to be validated by other people as well as by ourselves in order to be fully seen and accepted as human beings.

The essential areas of life are characterized by cultural and physical activities, spirituality, family, social life, intellectual activities and work.
In addition to the classic “Life-Balance Wheel”, there are numerous variations with supplementary areas as well as questionnaires and analysis tools, such as those of Sonja Lyubomirsky in The How of Happiness or The Myths of Happiness, or Carol Ryff’s Model of Psychological Well-being.

It is therefore advisable to draw up a kind of wheel with the essential areas of life yourself and to carry out a kind of “audit”. Which areas of your life are really well-developed? Which are perhaps even too much developed while others are atrophied?

Use the following idea of main areas in your life, displayed in the image below as a starting point for your individual audit.

• In your opinion, what are the main areas that define a well lived life?
• What do these main areas consists of? What would a life lived in health look like? What would a good family life look like?
• In your life right now, in wich areas are you content regarding your process and the actual status quo? Where do you see opportunities for growth and progress? Even change?
• How can you change your daily/ monthly schedule to incoroporate more activities of the underpresented areas of life? Can you even use time enhancer and multiplier activities to optimize your schedule?

The world will be balanced when we are balanced.
Tarthang Tulku Rinpoche

Resources and further reading material:

• Anxiety and Balance
• Balance for Stress Management
• Balance Wheel
• Hill, E.J., Hawkins, A.J., Ferris, M. & Weitzman, M. (2001). “Finding an Extra Day a week: The positive Influence of perceived job flexibility on work and family life balance.” Family Relations, 50(1), 49.58
• On Surviving Toxicity
• Rostad, F.G. and BC Long (1996): Exercise as a coping strategy. International Journal of Sport Psychology 27:197-222